How To Use Pinterest Idea Pins To Drive Website Traffic

If you have been following the content I put out in the past few years, then I am sure you already know how much I love using Pinterest in driving traffic to my websites. My favorite thing about Pinterest is that they always improve their platform and also add new features consistently. Let me tell you about my latest favorite feature: Idea Pins.

What Is An Idea Pin On Pinterest? And Best Practices

Just like what I have always been saying, Pinterest is a great platform for driving traffic to your website and it works for so many niches! It’s not a social media website like many others that are trying to keep all the traffic inside their platform. Pinterest actually can become your #1 traffic source on your website or eCommerce store. 

Another thing that I love about Pinterest is that they constantly update and try out new things to make the presentation of pins more fun and click-worthy.

Pinterest is expanding its horizons and is now introducing more features. Before, they introduced Pinterest story pins.

And aside from the usual standard pins, they have added Video pins before, then the evolution of Story pins, and just last May 2021, Pinterest introduced Idea pins!

What is an Idea Pin on Pinterest?

Due to positive results from their video pins update, Pinterest has released Idea Pins which are basically multi-page video pins. Idea Pins give people more ways to share inspiration with up to 20 pages of videos, images, and text! You can use the slider to view the series or carousel of photos and videos.

Idea pins also are great for engagement since users’ attention will be caught the moment they see your idea pins on their home feed.

Idea Pins are like the upgraded version of Story pins that empowers creators to post long-lasting ideas and not those that expire in just 24 hours. They also included fresh editing tools in this update and a library of royalty-free music to make your Idea pins more engaging. 

Think of your approach to idea pins as something that will greatly help your social media marketing like Instagram stories or video content on Youtube or TikTok. For example, a video idea pin can make users stop scrolling and watch what you posted.

Idea Pin creation now includes:

• Video recording and editing for up to 20 pages of content
• Voice over recording so creators can add their own personal voice
• Music selection by Epidemic Sound
• Transitions and effects
• Detail pages for instructions or ingredients
• Interactive elements like people tagging and stickers
• Multi-draft save so Creators can publish more ideas
• Export options to share content to other social media platforms
• And many more.

With this, users can now watch and upload videos on Pinterest without any interruptions or their video cutting at an awkward ending.

Using idea pins can help users and creators introduce new ideas or talk about their business more properly since it is a series of videos and not just one. 

Why You Should Use Pinterest Idea Pins For Traffic And Pinterest Marketing

The purpose of Idea pins is for your followers to stay engaged with your content and build your own engaged communities directly on Pinterest. These types of pins allow creators to be able to properly share their content in a fun way.

These pins can be a great source of traffic from Pinterest. If you are able to properly introduce your business or your ideas or create inspiring content through Idea pins, then chances are that they will be more excited to visit your website or online store.

You could share a step-by-step guide, a new recipe, a cleaning hack, some business tips, and more!

And because Idea Pins are permanent in your profile, they will have the chance to go viral on the platform and reach thousands of views and new users. Idea pins can also be repinned by others for inspiration. This is also a good way to gain Pinterest followers and build your own community on the website.  

You can also see your analytics on your Idea Pins so you will know what type of content works best for your account so you won’t have to waste time experimenting on what you need to take videos of.

Right now is the perfect time to start uploading Idea Pins because since it is a newer feature, Pinterest will keep pushing these types of pins to users in their platform. Pinterest is also currently testing product tagging within Idea Pins so creators can make their content shoppable. They are also exploring how to monetize these types of pins for creators. 

So I would say, the earlier you hop on this new feature, the better!

How To Create Pinterest Idea Pins: Everything You Need To Know To Make An Idea Pin

You can easily create Idea Pins on both your mobile phone within the Pinterest app or on your computer. Pinterest’s idea pin mainly consists of images and videos that you can swipe. 

But before anything else, Pinterest says you’ll need to follow the Creator Code to create Idea Pins. This means that you pledge to create and share Idea Pins that follow to the platform’s community guidelines.

But first, to be able to create and edit your idea pin, you must first convert your personal account into a Pinterest business account. I’ll let you know how:

1. From the top-right of your screen, click Sign up
2. Click Create a business account
3. Enter your Email, Create a password and enter your Age
4. Click Create account
5. Fill out the fields to Build your profile, then click Next
6. Fill out the fields to Describe your business, then click Next
7. Select if you want to run ads, then click Next
8. Select where you’d like to start or click  the x icon to go to your new Pinterest business account

Now, to create idea pins:

For the website: 

• Log into your Pinterest account.
• Click Create, then click Create an Idea Pin.
• Click Create new or click on one of your drafts under Your drafts. Yes, you can save your idea pin to drafts later on.
• Click the directional arrow up circle icon and choose 1 or up to 20 images or videos from your computer, or drag and drop to add the images or videos.
• Use the tools on the right side of the screen to design your pages.
• Adjust: Click Image or Video to adjust and resize your image or to focus on an interesting part of your video.
• Text: Click Text to add a text box and select your font, font size, alignment, color or highlight.
• Background: Click Background to select or change the background color.
• Click the plus icon on the top-left side above your pages to add more images or videos.
• To change your font, layout or background on multiple pages, hold down shift on your keyboard and select the pages you want to edit.
• Click Preview in the bottom-right corner to see how your Idea Pin will look before publishing and that your important information is within the safe zones.
• Click Next.
• Fill out the information about your Pin:
• Cover
• Give your idea pin a Title
• Board: Optionally choose a public board to save your Idea Pin from the drop-down menu or click Create board to create a new one.
• Tags: Search and add up to 10 tag topics to add to your Idea Pin to reach people searching for similar ideas.
• Comments: Toggle the switch to allow comments.
• List: Click Add a list, then select Ingredients, Supplies, or Notes to add details.
• Advanced options: Toggle the switch on or off to show shopping recommendations on your Idea Pin.
• Click Publish.

For Pinterest mobile app:

• Open the Pinterest app on your device and log into your Pinterest account.
• Tap the plus icon at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap Idea Pin.
• Tap the record button to record up to 60 seconds of video or select 1 or more photos or videos from your device in the bottom-left corner.
• Tap Done.
• Tap on a page to start designing, add text or add other effects. 
• Tap Done.
• Tap the plus icon to add up to 20 images or videos.
• Once you’ve added your images or videos, you can tap Preview to see how your Idea Pin will look before publishing and that your important information is within the safe zones.
• Tap Next.
• Fill out the information about your Pin:
• Title
• Cover
• List: Add Ingredients, Supplies, or Notes for your Pin.
• Board
• Tags: Search and add up to 10 related tag topics to add to your Idea Pin to reach people.
• Draft: Tap the folder icon to save your Idea Pin as a draft.
• Export: Tap the download icon in the bottom-left corner to download your entire Idea Pin to your device.
• Tap Publish and choose a board.

Idea pins don’t disappear unless you delete pins and Pinterest doesn’t remove them as well unless they are against their Community Guidelines.

Types Of Idea Pins

Though Pinterest has not released an official post about the types of Idea Pins there are on the platform, there are already a number of idea pins that are mostly used. You can now make creating idea pins easier by knowing these types or topics:

First is the instructional pins or the how-tos. These are pins that usually share tips or best practices on a certain topic. Other examples of these pins are recipe pins, DIY crafts, educational pins, and the like.

The second is a showcase idea pin. You can make idea pins like this with a series of photos and videos in an idea pin format where you showcase a product or your skillset. These types of pins are great if you want to keep pinners on Pinterest engaged with your content.

Another is a storytelling idea pin where you basically upload a video of you talking about something or a series of photos or texts where you tell a story. So, yes, you can use idea pins if you want something to share with the world.

Pinterest also encourages posting a new idea pin consistently since these pins can help increase your engagement.

Basically, these pins are performing better than a regular pin. The average comment rate on idea pins is definitely higher or 9x the average comment rate since these pins usually triggers engagement which is great if you are a new creator and you want to grow your Pinterest profile.

With every update, Pinterest just becomes better and better when it comes to creating content that will help you drive traffic and sales to your website. So what are you waiting for? Share Pinterest idea pins now before it’s too late!

And if you need more beginner tips on Pinterest, then you can come and join my Free Pinterest Masterclass!